Gopalkrishna Gandhi

About

Gopalkrishna Gandhi read English Literature at St Stephen’s College, Delhi. A civil servant and diplomat, he was Governor of West Bengal, 2004-2009. He is currently Distinguished Professor of History and Politics at Ashoka University

There are among the people of India persons skilled in the arts and culture of the land, men and women of science and those devoted to one or other form of social service whose experience would enrich the collective wisdom of Parliament. read more

The move for death to the rapists of victims below 12 is not going to prevent the macabre diabolism of the kind Kathua personifies. What vulnerable targets of perverts need is not the corpse of the villain but ceaseless vigilance and more than that,... read more

As chairman of Indira Gandhi’s policy planning committee, GP was a counsellor extraordinary. He advised frankly, fearlessly. But it is also true that when over-ruled, often unwisely, he let his prime minister have her way. read more

The 70th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination is far more significant for us, civilisationally, than the 150th anniversary of his birth, next year. This is because births emerge from parents’ timelines but deaths from one’s own read more

‘Fifty-fifty’ said a wise observer, sharing an assessment. ‘Things could change but as of now, it is, fifty-fifty’. Two years ago, it looked like Gujarat was never, ever, going to change its ruling party. Why, even as of one year ago, no one could have... read more

Eliot’s poetry, un-deciphered, will last forever in the chambers of our sensibility, for the sound of his secret words, not their meaning. The sound of Eliot’s words in ‘The Waste Land’ is its message, just as the enigma of Leonardo’s ‘Mona Lisa’ is... read more

The Hindu ‘Two Nationists’, helped along with Islamic fundamentalists, will have nothing to do with secularism now. They want in India a partition of the mind within the partitioned nation. Dogged in their aim, they seek to leverage an India traumatised... read more

The next Rashtrapati, irrespective of his or her religion, caste or political leaning, must speak with frank fearlessness to the State and society alike. (The author is the Opposition’s vice-presidential candidate) read more

The Emergency is the poison that tells us that its antidote exists, right in our grasp – courage. And that knowledge is a gift that it has given us. Thus it is just as well that we had that bizarre experience 42 years ago read more

Behind many inspiration stories is the tool-kit of the inspiration-fixer, the image mixer. A makeover is afoot that goes beyond simple air-brushing. What is attempted, with great success, is a Botox of the subject’s personality. read more